Forget Not Yet
by RealWorldWriter47
Summary: When Damon is forced to take the cure, he is left with no memory of his time as a vampire. Elena must restore her humanity to help Damon cope with his new life. Can they rediscover their love when Damon doesn't remember Elena, or is their relationship doomed to fall into her past?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Huzzah, another summer has begun! Ok, so for me this means hours of volunteer work with my free time, but it also means another fanfiction. This one picks up when Elijah still has the cure, and when Elena has her emotions turned off. It doesn't quite fit in between any particular episode, so it's somewhere in there with those two particulars. Also, it assumes that Damon can be compelled by an Original As usual the title is based off of a poem (which is at the end of the chapter).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own TVD, though I do often have dreams that it is real.**

Elena knew something was wrong the moment she saw him. Elijah, normally so steadfast, so calm and immovable, was striding toward her with fire in his eyes. Before she could register anything more, he seized her and drew her to him, kissing her so intensely it was a wonder she didn't fall back with the force of it. She didn't stop him. It hardly mattered. She didn't belong to anyone, not anymore. Slowly, the ferocity melted away, and his lips slowed to a tender, sorrowful pace. He cupped her cheek in his palm. He held her to him as he kissed her neck, her forehead, her eyelids, and then he inched away, leaving her breathless.

"What was that for?" Elena asked, noticing the faraway look in his eyes and the tears that had begun to pool there.

"If there is any part of you connected to Katarina, I want her to feel how much I love her,"

"Ok," Elena said slowly, "that's one way to do it. Or you could just go find her."

Elijah laughed mirthlessly, "you don't happen to have a white oak stake with you?"

It took Elena a minute to process his words. Katherine Pierce had spent centuries dodging death. She was the master of narrow escapes, impossible death defying feats. Nothing, no one could put a stop to her, "No," Elena shook her head, "you're wrong."

"Even without your emotions you're a hopeless optimist," Elijah marveled, "Damon killed her."

"He wouldn't."

"He was convinced that she was plotting to murder you, that you had become a threat to her. Do you doubt that Damon Salvatore would go any lengths to save you?"

Elena couldn't say that she did. Damon had proven time and time again that he would risk life and limb for her, both his and anyone else's. still, to kill Katherine, the woman who had been the target of his all-consuming love for so many years, seemed unthinkable even for Damon.

Elijah was growing impatient, "I've seen her, Elena, and Damon will pay."

For weeks Elena hadn't cared about anything, not Bonnie or Caroline, not threats to her life, or the death of her brother, but the idea of Elijah killing Damon, of ending an existence which was so electric, was a shock to her system. She felt the sudden urge to fight the Original vampire, to stop him before he could carry out his plans. It was fear that made her move, fear for the man she loved. She loved Damon. The awareness came back to her sharp as a knife. Her heart was filled with it. She didn't try to turn her emotions on, but they clicked. It was as though a spark had ignited and her whole world was set to flame. She lurched toward Elijah, but before she could get anywhere near him, he had vanished.

Damon sat with his back to the door, feet propped, staring at the fireplace. He hadn't touched the drink in his hand, but it comforted him to know that it was there if he needed it. He had killed Katherine Pierce. After years of plotting and scheming, just so that she could duck from his grasp and live to taunt him another day, Damon had actually managed to end her, and he hadn't even planned it.

Without her emotions, Elena was ruthless. She wouldn't hesitate to make Katherine's life a living hell for revenge. As a vampire she was no longer vital. Klaus didn't need her, and even Stefan was starting to waver in his devotion to her. If Elena was gone, the only one who would care seemed to be Damon, and he knew damn well that Katherine didn't give a damn about that. She was in Mystic Falls. Katherine never came back unless she had some dastardly deed up her sleeves. She wanted to put a stop to Elena, and without her usual army to protect her, it was easier than ever. But Damon would always protect Elena, no matter what state she was in. His love of her was one area that didn't waver. So, he killed Katherine. It was eerily simple. She wasn't expecting it.

The moment he'd done it, however, Damon had anticipated that Elijah would show up. Katherine had a way of wrapping men around her finger, men who were so blinded by her charm that they would stop at nothing to avenge her. Elijah was a smart man, but Damon knew that he wasn't immune. The smarter they were the harder they fought for her. Maybe it was a way of compensating for the blindness of their devotion.

"If it makes you feel any better, I feel pretty shitty about it," Damon didn't need to turn around to know that Elijah had finally made his entrance. It was as if the air was sucked out of the room.

"It doesn't," slowly, Elijah stepped around the ornate furniture and faced Damon who offered a weak smirk.

"It was worth a shot. Do me a favor and just rip my heart out, maybe my brother can take it as a keepsake."

Elijah reached into his jacket pocket and slowly produced a vial. It looked like aged blood, but Damon knew that it could only be one thing, "the cure," he whispered darkly.

"You are going to take this," Elijah spoke calmly, with the confidence of someone who had compelled many a vampire, "you will become weak and powerless, a human, and you will die, as all humans are doomed to do."

Elijah handed him the vile. He didn't worry whether Damon would take the cure or not. He had no choice. Just as quietly as he had come in, Elijah left the boarding house, and Damon Salvatore, behind.

It was only moments after Elijah had left that Elena burst through the doors to the boarding house, but it was too late. Damon was slumped against the couch, pale as death, his chest still and lifeless.

Elena crashed to her knees, "No, Damon, c'mon," her hands ghosted over his face, fluttery and unsure. She touched his face, but he made no movement, no sign that he felt her near.

"It'll be alright," she said, more for herself then for him. With shaking fingers she took out her cell phone and dialed Caroline.

"What?" her friend snapped as she answered, weary of the new, darker Elena she assumed was calling to torture her.

"Car, it's Damon. Elijah did something to him. I don't know what to do. He's not breathing. Oh, God, what if he's dead?" her voice broke and it was all she could do not to cry into the phone.

She heard Caroline's breath catch on the other end, "Elena, it's you isn't it? I mean, really?"

"Yes, it's me!" Elena shouted impatiently, eyes darting over Damon's body, looking for some sign of life, some way to help him.

Always a planner, Caroline snapped to attention, "Right. I'll get Klaus. He knows Elijah better than anyone."

"What about Bonnie?

Caroline hesitated, "Bonnie's…a little unpredictable right now. I'll get Klaus."

Elena nodded, but then remembered that Caroline couldn't see her, "hurry," she said, hanging up.

"Ok," Elena steeled herself, "Caroline is coming," she told Damon. She brushed his hair back from his ghostly face. "I know I've been a bitch," she wrung her hands in her lap, casting sidelong glances at him, hoping for a response, "but I'm back now. So, you have to be here. If you don't come back… well, you have to be here, ok?"

Abruptly, she grabbed his face between her hands, shouting, "Damon, I came back for you! Come back for me!" She shook his shoulders, "this isn't funny. It's not a game. Stop it! Stop it, Damon!"

Her composure was slipping with each passing second. She had lost too many people, all of her family. Damon was the only one left, the only person whom she loved with all of her heart. He had always been there, even when she didn't want him. She took his presence for granted. It was as reliable as the sunrise. She had never doubted that he would be there for her, and yet in this moment it looked as though she had lost him forever. What had her last words to him been? Nothing good, surely. She had been rude and cruel to everyone, she had probably threatened him. The thought made her heart leap into her throat. Had he known that the real Elena was lurking just below the surface, that she loved him even as she hurled insults at him?

Elena was shaking. She wanted nothing more than for Damon to reach a hand out and steady her. Instead it was Caroline's hand she felt on her shoulder, "hey," she whispered.

Elena leapt up, finding Klaus with her frantic gaze, "What did Elijah do?"

For once, Klaus didn't taunt her with riddles. He didn't prolong her suffering with that devilish smirk. He bent down and looked at Damon curiously, like a man surveying a strange animal at the zoo. He cocked his head. He didn't touch Damon, but in less than a minute he straightened, and it was obvious that he had come to his conclusion.

"Well?" Caroline asked testily.

"My brother, so incapable of murder."

Elena's breath caught, "he's not dead?"

Klaus shook his head, "No, love, he's not dead. He's taken the cure."

**Forget Not Yet: Thomas Wyatt**

**Forget not yet the tried intent  
Of such a truth as I have meant  
My great travail so gladly spent  
Forget not yet.**

Forget not yet when first began  
The weary life ye knew, since whan  
The suit, the service, none tell can,  
Forget not yet.

Forget not yet the great assays,  
The cruel wrongs, the scornful ways,  
The painful patience in denays  
Forget not yet.

Forget not yet, forget not this,  
How long ago hath been, and is,  
The mind that never means amiss;  
Forget not yet.

Forget not yet thine own approved,  
The which so long hath thee so loved,  
Whose steadfast faith yet never moved,  
Forget not this.

**A/N: Future chapters will be a little longer, but I hope you enjoyed. If you feel so moved, please read and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Another week, another chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and I hope you feel inclined to do it again. Happy reading (and I still don't own stuff). **

"The cure? Damon doesn't want the cure," Elena stared at Klaus in disbelief. Not so long ago she had begged Damon to take the cure with her. She even allowed herself to fantasize about the life they would have, complete with children and a beautiful southern home where they would drink tea on the porch in their old age and Damon would make some inappropriate joke that she would just roll her eyes at. It was an image she had conjured, but even as she imagined it she knew that it wouldn't be. Damon didn't want to be human any more than she had wanted to be a vampire. They couldn't force each other.

"That'll be the whole point won't it, love?" Klaus straightened and laughed, "My brother wasn't exactly trying to send him on a lovely holiday."

Caroline swatted at him, "That's enough," she hissed. Caroline watched worriedly as Elena began to pace around the room.

Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks, smacking her palms together in triumph, "this is no big deal. I'll just change him back when he wakes up."

Caroline glanced over at Klaus, chewing her lip as she waited for his response.

"I don't expect it'll work that way. I would imagine it's rather a permanent thing."

Elena's face fell as she glanced at Damon. Would he really be stuck in a life he didn't want? Would he really be left to die and leave her eternal?

Caroline glared at Klaus, "We don't know that," She said to Elena. She took her friends shoulders, "It could work, Elena. Don't give up."

Elena nodded, but her stomach was filled with lead. She sat down heavily on the sofa, staring blankly ahead, "I really wanted to be human again." Her eyes sparkled. Caroline knelt in front of her.

"I know."

"I shouldn't be thinking that it's not fair, right? I mean, Damon didn't ask for this. But it's not fair, Car."

"I think that's a quite logical thought actually, and rather ironic. Rebekah has been lobbying to be human for years and yet…" Klaus mused, smiling to himself.

Caroline whipped her head around, "Not helping, go!" She pointed at the door and Klaus bowed his head in mock apology.

"Right. Tell Damon best of wishes for me then."

"I'm going to have to tell him he's become the thing he hates," Elena said once Klaus had left them.

"He'll be alright. You'll pull him through, Elena, you always do."

"I love him, Caroline."

Caroline hugged her friend close, "I know. I know you do."

She pulled away so quickly that Elena's head snapped back, "ow," she said, massaging her neck, "thanks."

Caroline was looking at her with wide eyes, "You love him."

Despite the gravity of everything, Elena couldn't help but let the sarcasm creep into her voice. It made her feel normal to have her friend back with her, even in the midst of chaos.

"Yeah. What a shock. It's not like It's been that way for a while or anything."

Caroline was shaking her head before Elena could even finish, "No, you love him, and Damon isn't a vampire anymore." She waited impatiently for her words to sink in.

"The sire bond. It was never the sire bond." Elena had been telling Damon this for some time, promising him that the love which drove her to forsake Stefan was true. She hadn't realized until now that there was a part of her which had doubted, worried that all of his fears were true, that she was only connected to him by this supernatural law, and that she might wake up and regret it all one day. It was a small weight off her shoulders to know that she had been right all along.

She turned to Damon, hoping against hope that he could hear, "I love you. It'll be okay. We'll be okay."

Elena spent the rest of the afternoon hovering over Damon. Caroline had long since gone. Stefan wasn't answering his phone. It was probably for the best. If he woke up and could be turned back as easily as his immortality had been taken from him, then it would be a waste to worry Stefan. "Yes, he took the cure, no he's not a human anymore. I fixed him." It would be ridiculous. Still, she thought that Klaus must be right. Elijah never would have cursed Damon to a fate that could so easily be reversed by the innumerable vampires in Mystic Falls. But they would cross that bridge when they came to it, just like every other crisis that happened in their lives.

When Damon finally stirred, Elena found herself tensed, ready to give the speech she had rehearsed a thousand times in her head, "if you are going to be human, then you will have the best human life possible. I'll be by your side every second. We'll get through this together."

His electric blue eyes made contact with her warm brown ones. She smiled as he blinked at her, and in a flash he had caught her in his arms. His hand went through her hair, pressing her face against his neck. She smelt the blood which pulsed under his skin, intoxicating and unmistakably human. His heart beat against her chest. _Those beats are numbered now, _but she couldn't think about that.

Damon heaved a sigh of relief, "you're alright."

Elena's brow furrowed in confusion. Damon seemed unable to loosen his hold, "why wouldn't I be?" What had Elijah told him? That he had murdered her in retribution for Katherine, an eye for an eye? Surely he would know that Elijah was incapable of hurting her.

Damon smiled into her hair, "Of course, I shouldn't have doubted you, Katherine."

Elena tensed, forcing the now human Damon away from her. He only smiled and contended himself with brushing her bangs behind her ear. It was the smile that alarmed her most. It was not the smirk of Damon Salvatore. There was nothing cocky or rude about it. This smile was genuine and innocent. Damon could be called a lot of things, but never among them was innocent.

"Damon," she said slowly, "What do you think happened to…me?"

His smile faltered in his confusion, "Only what I saw," he explained, "the town dragging you off to be burned in the church."

Elena had to work to keep her face neutral, "Damon, what year is it?"

"Why such questions?" Damon tried to bring her close, he tilted his head as if to kiss her, but she kept him at arms length, "Can we not be happy that we're both alive? That's enough for me."

"It's not for me," Elena snapped. She wasn't trying to sound like Katherine, but her fear was tilting her in that direction, "Tell me the year."

Katherine was prone to a temper, no matter what the year, and though confused, Damon didn't seem at all surprised by her mood, "1864," he answered confidently.

Elena brought a hand to her forehead, shielding her gaze from his, "oh, God," she said.

Damon reached to pry her hand away, "What is it, Katherine?"

Elena stood up so quickly that for a moment Damon couldn't tell where she had gone, "stop calling me that!"

Damon pushed himself off the couch, "What else am I to call you?" He scanned her fully for the first time, "What are you wearing? What have you done to your hair?" He pulled a strand of pink through two of his fingers.

"I can handle this," Elena muttered to herself, ignoring Damon as he marveled at her modernity.

She pulled her phone from her pocket, "What is that?" Damon asked from behind her. She held up a hand to quiet him.

"Stefan," she let out his name like a prayer, grateful that he had answered this time.

"Elena. What's wrong?"

"Stefan is here?" Damon looked around for his brother. His brow furrowed when he came up empty.

"Stefan, we have a problem. I can't explain. Come home now."

"Elena-"

"It's Damon." She hung up the phone without another word.

Damon, now thoroughly confused, had settled back onto the couch. She spun around to face him and tried to smile.

"Did Emily spell that so that you could communicate with my brother?" He asked, looking crestfallen.

"What? No. Well, sort of. It's so I can talk to anyone who's not near me."

She sat next to him, "Damon, the last thing you remember is that night in 1864? You don't remember being a vampire?"

"You promised me that I would become one. I haven't forgotten." He said it like he was afraid she might go back on her word, like he was trying to entrap her with her own words. Even when blinded by her Damon was aware that Katherine could manipulate. It was comforting to know that, at least.

Elena took Damon's hands in hers. For one wild second she considered playing along with the façade, dressing like Katherine and playing house like it was the 19th century, but the logistics were too much. they would never be able to leave the house, and besides, she couldn't lie to him. He had never lied to her. He had always told her the truth, no matter what trouble it would cause him. It was this straightforwardness that she loved in him.

"Katherine did change you into a vampire, Damon," she looked into his eyes and tried to find the Damon of 2013, looked for some flicker of recognition, of memories of that long life. She saw in them only a quick spark of anger.

"Enough with games, Katherine, I'm tired of them."

She almost smiled at the venom in his words. He was rude to Katherine, even if it was really Elena he was mad at. But she couldn't smile.

Elena shook her head, "I'm not Katherine. I'm Elena." Again she looked for any sign that he recognized the name, but there was nothing.

"you've had to change your name. Are they hunting you?"

"No," she continued sadly, "My name has always been Elena. I am not Katherine. I'm her doppleganger."

Damon shot up, backing toward the wall, "What have you done with Katherine?"

"Nothing," she took a tentative step toward him, arms raised, but he only pressed himself further against the wall as though he was hoping he might melt into it.

"Liar!"

"Damon, look at what you're wearing. Look around. You see that things have changed. You know that. I'm telling you the truth. You were a vampire, but you took the cure."

Damon sneered, "There is no cure. And if I was a vampire why can I not remember?"

"I don't know. I swear. I guess since the cure made you human it wiped out any memories of when you weren't."

Damon took a tentative step forward, never moving his eyes from Elena. It was obvious he thought she was a dangerous animal.

"How long have I 'been a vampire'?" He asked speculatively.

"About 150 years."

"Nearly two centuries, and you claim they were simply erased?"

"Honestly, Damon. I wish they weren't. I wish you remembered what we meant to each other. I would never hurt you. I love you." Her eyes swam with tears despite how she tried to keep them at bay.

"I love Katherine!" Damon spat, "I would never betray her."

"Katherine didn't love you. She was using you," for a moment Elena allowed her wits to slip away, and Damon surged forward, livid, all fear forgotten. He grabbed Elena's neck, squeezing her windpipe. He was clearly aiming to cause her pain. If she were human she would have been dead, but even confused, Damon knew the signs that Elena was a vampire.

"I'm sorry, Damon. I shouldn't have said that," she spoke through his hold as if it was nothing. This only infuriated him more. He snarled at her.

"Damon!"

Elena whipped around to find Stefan standing in the doorway. She didn't have time to explain, and he didn't pause to realize that Damon was a human who wasn't hurting her. He flew across the room and yanked Damon back violently. He didn't bother to be careful.

"Stop! Stefan, he's human!" Elena shrieked.

Stefan dropped his hold in shock. Damon crumpled to the floor. He wasn't breathing.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Chapter 3. Not exactly how the season finale went, but I like it. Hope you do too!**

"I don't trust her," Damon hissed.

Elena flinched. She didn't want to listen. She wanted to run away. Damon had been less than grateful when she'd fed him her blood. He couldn't get away from her fast enough. Stefan he recognized. His brother was safe ground, this girl in front of him, the one who looked like his ex, the love of his life, he didn't want anything to do with her. Elena wanted a drink. Badly.

Stefan glanced apologetically over at her. He was afraid for her. She'd just turned her emotions back on. She would be teetering on the brink for a while, and if Damon shunned her he wasn't sure what she would do. But Elena was always better with a project to handle.

"There is no one in this world more trustworthy than Elena," Stefan said, loudly enough for her to hear.

Damon looked speculatively at his brother, "I want to speak with Katherine." He looked as though that would solve everything. Elena shook her head in disgust.

Stefan braced himself. It was hard enough to hear the news from Elena in 2013, even after knowing the truth of Katherine Pierce for centuries. He couldn't imagine how it would be had he just woken up from that night in 1864, when she was their world, when she was everything they could have dreamed of. He knew the utter devotion he had felt in that moment, and he knew that it was even more intense for Damon who so longed to be loved by the temptress.

Elena skirted out of the room.

"Katherine is dead," Stefan hung his head.

If he had been in shock before it was nothing compared to what Damon felt now. It was as though a stone had hit him in the chest. It filled him like lead. If there was one truth to being a vampire it was that you would be young and beautiful forever. Everything else was a mystery with Katherine; her mood, her affection, but that one thing remained. Now it was shattered. He slumped onto the couch, eyes glassy.

"How?" He choked.

"Damon, you've had a long day. You just learned you were a vampire. I think-"

"How did she die, Stefan?" he barked.

"You killed her," he said gravely, "you had to. She was threatening…someone you loved. She's not who we thought she was Damon, she was evil and cruel."

But he might as well have been talking to himself. Damon felt the world spinning, but he was outside of it, he was outside of his body, gone from the world. He refused to believe it. The woman he had planned his life around, would gladly have risked damnation for, would have forsaken family, friends, country for, he wouldn't kill her. He couldn't kill Katherine Pierce. He was incapable. He looked at his hands, but they were out of focus. Somewhere he was aware that Stefan was still talking to him, trying to reason out the unreasonable.

"Go," he said quietly.

Stefan sat and stared at his brother. He looked lost, broken. There were no tears, there was nothing, and that was even more terrifying. If he didn't know any better he would have thought that Damon had turned his emotions off, but that was not a luxury of humanity. Damon could feel. He felt so much that he was numb with the surge of emotion.

"You did the right thing brother."

"Get out!" Damon shouted. Stefan stood up quietly, placing a hand on Damon's shoulder before leaving the house.

It was a few minutes before Damon made a move. He didn't trust that the vampires wouldn't be listening, the vampires who told impossible truths that sounded like lies, who appeared one way but were another.

He slid onto his knees, turned his palms upright and glared into them, forcing himself to focus this time. He saw every line of them, but no blood, nothing left of Katherine.

"I killed Katherine," he tried the words, but they slipped against his tongue. They were wrong.

"I _killed _Katherine," he said again, but the words made no more sense to his ears.

"I killed _Katherine_," he gasped. The truth of the statement sucked the air from his lungs. He bent double, feeling like it was his heart that was starved rather than his lungs.

Rebekah charged across the house after Elijah, face contorted, "Why would you do that? Why would you destroy my happiness?"

Elijah sighed, but spoke calmly as ever, "He killed Katarina." He was used to his sister's temper. She was an emotional creature, passionate about anything that suited her, but rarely about people farther than how they benefited her. He knew that reasoning with her over the value of Katarina's life would do nothing. She was honed in on her needs, what he had stolen from her.

"Katherine," she scoffed, "She's a doppleganger, Elijah, she comes around every few centuries, just wait for the next one."

"You're being childish." Elijah brushed past his sister with barely a glance, ignoring her sparkling eyes, the strain of her muscles as she tried unsuccessfully to reign in her anger.

"And you're selfish!" She raged, "All I've ever wanted was to be human, and you give it to someone as a punishment, for some dumb crush."

Elijah resisted the urge to roll his eyes, "Yes, the girl that I fell in love with centuries ago was, as you put it, 'some dumb crush.' Be careful sister, or you'll turn into every stereotypical teenager on TV."

"That's just it, I won't, because of you!"

Elijah had spent the better part of his life cultivating the art of patience. He had to with a family as volatile as his, but Rebekah managed to try even his store of it, "Shouting at me won't undo anything, Rebekah, so what do you propose we do?"

"I'll kill him," Rebekah vowed, "He shouldn't get to live a human life if I can't."

"Do what you want," Elijah swept out of the house, knowing very well that it would be harder to kill Damon Salvatore than she imagined, even if he was a human.

Her house was in ashes. Somewhere in the pile of ash and debris were the remains of her brother, or maybe they had been scooped away unwittingly by the fire department. Though it had been weeks, Elena could still smell the acrid smoke of the air. When she was little there had been no safer place in the world than that house. It was the place where her dad held her when she cried, where her mom read her bedtime stories, where she and Jeremy ran around playing some silly made up game or another. But in just a handful of years those four walls had become nothing but a place of torture. It was like a burial ground, not just the resting place for Jeremy, but the haunting memories of her parents, of Jenna, of Alaric, of any family she had ever managed to build. She couldn't keep them together. She wasn't enough to keep them safe, and what had it all been for? To protect her. And what good did it do? She was a vampire anyway.

She walked up to where the big white house should have been. She could imagine the steps to the porch. For a moment she pictured swinging on the swing as the crickets sang around her. The front door. She could see that to. She remembered the day that Jenna had first opened it after her parents died. It felt wrong that she would be the one to do it. Elena had almost imagined that her mom and dad would appear around the corner and welcome them home, but they didn't. Eventually that daydream faded, and Alaric would take over as the adult of the house. How terrible it had been to come home without Jenna. Elena had also welcomed Stefan and Damon into her house. They had protected her there, declared their love, whisked her away from it even, but none of that would happen anymore. She had no home. No family. She had lost the love of the Salvatore brothers, one from a choice, the other by cruel fate. Who would catch her now? Save her now? Who would be there to usher her into her new home, the new stage of her life?

Elena scooped up a handful of ash into her palm and let it slip from between her fingers. She would have to take care of herself. She would take care of Damon. He was lost too. His parents were gone, his love was gone, but worst of all, his world was gone. There was nothing familiar for him in this modern world. She would be his constant.

"I'm taking care of Damon now, Alaric," she whispered, a laugh catching in her voice at the absurdity of the idea.

In her head she formed Alaric's answer, "let him take care of himself. He doesn't deserve you."

She laughed, tears pooling in her eyes, "you don't mean that. You love him."

Alaric was about to concede her point when a voice spoke from behind her, "Elena?" She jumped, half thinking that the ghost of her former guardian would be there, but it was Matt.

He stood just outside on the sidewalk, his blue eyes concerned, "Are you ok?"

Elena sniffed, "I'm not going crazy if that's what you mean. Do you ever talk to Vicki?"

Matt shrugged, "yeah, but a few times she was actually there, ya know?"

Elena nodded. She remembered vividly the time that Vicki had decided to rejoin the land of the living. Elena had almost died.

"You never know in this town. Stranger things have happened."

"Like Damon being human. Is it true?"

"Unfortunately," Elena crossed over to him, looking so exhausted and deflated that he put his arm around her, hugging her to him, "and he doesn't remember me." She shook her head against him, "worse. He's afraid of me."

"He'll get over it."

Elena laughed, "you think so?"

"Elena, have you noticed that everyone here falls in love with you eventually? Damon did it once. He'll do it again."

She blushed. Matt let her go.

"I know I shouldn't be thinking this," he said, "but I sorta feel sorry for Rebekah."

"Why?" Elena asked.

"Well, she wanted that cure so bad. I kinda thought Elijah would give it to her."

"Elijah was going to give Rebekah the cure." Elena let this fact hit her slowly. There was nothing Rebekah wanted more than to have a human life, and when Rebekah wanted something she found a way to get it. She had run them off a bridge for God's sake. When she was passionate about something she would stop at nothing, and she and Damon hadn't had the best relationship to begin with.

"Oh my God."

"I didn't say I was mad at Damon for taking it or anything," Matt said quickly.

"It's not that," Elena found herself already tensing into action, "Rebekah is going to try and kill Damon."

Matt's eyes widened, "It's never easy," but before he had even finished saying it, Elena was gone in a gust.

Almost as quickly as she had begun her journey Elena found herself at the boarding house. She burst in, "Damon!" She raced into the living room, but it was empty. So was the hallway. She felt panic rising in her chest. She couldn't lose him.

"Aww, are you scared for him, Elena?" She knew that mocking voice anywhere. Elena spun around to find Rebekah standing there, looking for all the world like she had just popped in for a visit.

"Rumor has it that he doesn't remember you anyway, so why bother with all the fuss, hmm? Oh, right, you love him. How tragic." She smiled a deadly smile.


End file.
